KEMAL'S FIGHTING POWER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18244, 10 November 1922, Page 9

KEMAL'S FIGHTING POWER.

WELL-ORGANISED ARMY. ARTILLERY AND AIRCRAFT. Seventy thousand fighting men, in addition to supply services and other noncombatants, are waiting the outcome of the negotiations between the Turkish and British military leaders, wrote Mr. John Clayton, correspondent of the Chicago Tribune, at Smyrna on September 30. It is not a large army, but one ideally suited for the sort of combat that prevails in Anatolia; blooded by a magnificent defence, a victorious offiensive, they are now waiting to give battle to Great Britain. Probably 40,000 fighting men are already on the Chanak and Ismid fronts, with every availa|>-e unit bring rushed northward as reinforcements.

If it comes to a fight, Kemal will be able to throw even larger forces into tho field than he did against the Greeks. Scarcely one of his reserve units has been used in these operations. He relied in the main on the battle units jf 12,0)0 cavalry to rout the armies of General Hadjianestis. Even these troops, despite the rapid advance over a distance of 400 feilometres, are still in excellent shape, with their equipment intact. Their uniforms are not the smartest, but they are hardy, sun-tanned, wind-bitten troops, who look capable of standing hardships that would tear a European army wide or en. What they lack in uniforms they make up in equipment. Many of Kemal's men have the conventional "olive-drab uniforms, much like the American, with high collars, but there are also unusual departures in chic uniforms in blue, in homespun, in drab, with blouses of French blue and trousers.

There are picturesque Lazis from distant Eastern provinces, garbed entirely in black. They have tight blouses, trousers with skin-tight pants and baggy seat, leather puttes and soft leather moccasins. Capping all a black turban is wound tightly round the head. Ammunition belts encircle the waist and pass over both shoulders, loaded with cartridges for their modern Lebel rifles. They are further armed with a short poignard, often with an ultra-modern '* potato masher" (German grenade)'. There are Arab troops from the Southern provinces—city dwellers, not nomads— in conventional olive-drab or homespun, with atout boots, and a burnous thrown over their heads. There are Kurds, many in grey civilian coats and breeches, black boots, with a gay kerchief t*<?d over their heads. Most of them carry a knife as j well as a rifle and a bayonet. All the Turkish troops are great fighters with cold steel. It was this more than any other thing that routed the Greeks in Afium, The officers, for the most part, are uniformed in olive-drab, with high collars, much like the American dress. Their markings are worn on the tabs and collarends. They aro topped with a black, brimless cap of lambskin, known as the kalpak, or vizorless felt cap. In equipment the Kemalist troops leave little to bo desired. Their arms are of the most modern, and they seem to have large supplies of ammunition. The cavalryman generally has two horses, one of which he leads. With every cavalry unit there 13 a battery of .mountain artillery, or Hotchki3s guns carried in the same manner. There is an unusually large proportion of automatic rifles among the cavalry and a _larger percentage among the infantry. One of the surprises of the campaign is the number of batteries Kemal swung into action at Afium and Ushak, with an abundance of ammunition. He (probably boasted 300 guns when the offensive began. He captured at least 250 from the Greeks. In the main they are now the famous French 75's. The Russian and German pieces of similar calibre have been refined and breached to take the same ammunition. There are also batteries of 4-inch German howitaers and heavier pieces. . . . The improvement in the air eervice is little short of remarkable, but it is still far below the standard: of Western power. During the summer the Turks received many French and Italian machines. The total is four squadrons of 15 aeroplanes each. The pilots are mostly foreigntrained, with a sprinkling of French and Italian, according to the British and the Greeks. Kemalist officers, however, deny To Fevzi Pasha, Kemal's Chief of Staff, goes the credit of the battle plans. This able general, recently promoted to fieldmarshal for his successes against the Greeks, not only drew up the plans for the offensive, but was responsible for the tactical retreat which resulted in the Turkish victory at Bakaria a year ago. He was a graduate at the Staff College at Constantinople, and spent some time _in Germany and France as a student of military tactics. Ismet Pasha, chief of the Turkish armies in the field, is another productoosf s the Young Turk revolution. Like the oom-mander-in-chief, he received some training abroad, but was educated mainly at Constantinople. i